Pueblo Soundscapes Project Concludes with Community Celebration and Oral History Exhibits

Free Event Oct. 9 Marks Completion of Groundbreaking Musical Ethnography Study

PUEBLO, Colo. – After years of documenting the musical heartbeat of Pueblo, Colorado, a major research project is reaching its finale with a community celebration that honors the voices, stories, and sounds that have shaped this city.

The Pueblo Soundscapes End-of-Project Celebration takes place Thursday, October 9, 2025, at CSU Pueblo Library and Academic Resource Center (LARC). The free event includes a reception at 5:30 p.m. in the LARC Lobby, followed by oral history exhibits and a presentation from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in LARC 109.

The event is hosted by the American Music Research Center at CU Boulder, CSU Pueblo Library, and the Aztlán Research Center.

"Soundscapes of the People: A Musical Ethnography of Pueblo, Colorado" set out to do something ambitious. Capture the role music has played in a city whose contributions to American history have largely been overlooked. The project is led by former AMRC Director Susan Thomas, along with researchers Austin Okigbo and Xóchitl Chávez. Project organizers spent considerable time interviewing community members, past and present participants in Pueblo's musical life, and building a digital archive that will remain publicly accessible through the University of Colorado Libraries.

The city of Pueblo occupies a unique space in American history. It once sat on the border with Mexico. The steel from Colorado Fuel and Iron quite literally built the West, those rails and nails opening what became known as Colorado's Gateway. Waves of immigrants arrived from Europe, Mexico, Central America, the eastern United States, rural areas nearby. They came for work, for opportunity, and they brought their music with them.

For all its importance in the nation's economic and geographic development, Pueblo's cultural history has often been forgotten. This project looked to change that, treating music not just as entertainment but as a tool for community building, activism, and survival. Music as the soundtrack to industrialization and labor struggles. Music as memory.

The October 9 celebration offers the community a chance to see what's been preserved. The oral history exhibits will showcase voices that might otherwise have disappeared. The presentation will reflect on what the project uncovered and what it means for understanding Pueblo's past, present, and future.

The project has also partnered with the Latino History Project and K-12 educators to develop curriculum materials, ensuring these stories reach the next generation.

For a city that's given so much to the nation's story, this is a moment to listen and to remember.

Event Details: 

What: Pueblo Soundscapes End-of-Project Celebration 

When: Thursday, October 9, 2025, 5:30 p.m. – Reception with oral history exhibits, LARC Lobby 6:30–7:30 p.m. – Presentation, LARC 109 

Where: CSU Pueblo Library, 2200 Bonforte Blvd., Pueblo, CO 81001 

Cost: Free and open to the public 

Parking: Information available at CSU Pueblo Parking

For questions, contact pueblo.soundscapes@colorado.edu.